Ethereal
by Aeneid
Summary: AU. Legendary Pokemon are revered as gods. Hoenn, however, is in a crisis. There are two reigning monarchs. There is only one region. Who will rule? Contestshipping
1. Prologue

This is my first fic for the Pokemon series. Contestshipping pairing for this one too. XD Hope everyone likes it! Please do review right after you read this fic. I'll need to have everyone's opinion for this fic of mine.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

**Ethereal**

* * *

_Prologue_

* * *

_Decades ago, the region of Hoenn had been ruled with an iron fist._

_The emperor was a cold-hearted man whose lust for power was endless. Anyone who had stood in his way was killed, despite the fact that they had been either the emperor's relative or close friend. It mattered not to him; all he needed was supremacy throughout the lands, and he would have been invincible._

_What he did not count on was that the gods were not on his side._

_A settler from the Johto region who had moved to Hoenn, Norman was the only one who had opposed the tyrant. A descendant from the line of the god Kyogre, he led a resistance against the emperor, killed him and made his heir the new emperor. Though the young boy was only eight when he had ascended to power, Norman assured him that as soon as the late emperor's heir turned eighteen years, he would have full authority all over Hoenn._

_However, the young emperor's mind had been corrupted by his late father._

_Instead of feeling grateful, using the powers that were bestowed upon him by the god Groudon, he killed Norman out of spite, telling him that it was not his place to displace the current status quo._

_Because of the anger felt by the young emperor, the whole land of Hoenn experienced drought._

_Everyone knew then that they were not to disobey the emperor._

_Norman had suffered the consequences of meddling._

_They would not want that to happen to them._

_For five years, the whole land had suffered from famine._

_But as the sixth year made its mark, a miracle had happened._

_It started drizzling._

_The god Kyogre made everyone feel its presence._

_The current emperor who was thirteen at that time had calmly asked if they would be able to get rid of the person who had summoned Kyogre._

_His advisers agreed and sent out soldiers to find and kill the person responsible for all of this._

_What they did not count on was that the resistance had been ready._

_Using all possible resources, they had relocated their summoner to the island of Ever Grande. There, they had autonomy from the main land, creating their own system of government and the like. The summoner ascended and made into royalty, just to spite the young emperor. _

_Hoenn was now separated into two. Petalburg, Littleroot, Dewford, Pacifidlog, Sootopolis, Ever Grande and Mossdeep were now in control of the new monarch, called Southern Hoenn. Though the newly-acquired territories were small compared to the ones that were under the emperor, it was better than nothing._

_The emperor, meanwhile, was now on the move to gain back the lands that were 'stolen' from him._

_This is their story._

* * *

Two years after…

* * *

She sighed.

She wanted to rest, but seeing the fact that there was no time to waste, she merely sighed in exasperation. Right now, she was having a meeting with her political advisers regarding the current situation. Their region, a fairly new region that had only been established, was in a crisis. They had been labeled as renegade by the emperor in the main land, as well as the ruler in Sinnoh. Johto had been neutral, as well as Kanto, and that had been the only way that had made them survive thus far. If both Johto and Kanto had allied themselves with the emperor… she shuddered in fear just thinking about it.

Sinnoh imposed a trade embargo in their region and all of the towns that the queen had control over were suffering. They had little food to eat, but thankfully, there was an unlimited supply of water. Despite this, she knew that they could not survive on water alone. The children needed nutrition, as well as the adults.

"Your Majesty?"

She nearly jumped up in her seat, startling the Skitty sleeping in her lap. "Y-yes, Max?" she asked. At this, her pet Skitty jumped down from her lap and started chasing her own tail. May sighed and used her Pokeball to return her pet. After placing the ball on the table, she fixed her gown, which consisted of a red-colored tube top and a black skirt which exposed her legs and the back part of it trailed behind her.

Her younger brother, a political adviser, cleared his throat. "Were you even listening to the proposal?" he snorted.

"K-kind of…" the brunette mumbled and studied her brother.

From the day their father had died, Max had changed along with her. From a crybaby, he had become way too mature for a twelve year old. He became the man of the house, filling up the void. He acted like a father more than a little brother to May, which greatly distressed her.

Her younger brother was growing up. His mental maturity reached to the point wherein she could no longer comprehend him. It was not long before their role had been reversed: he was now acting like the elder sibling instead of her.

'_Someday, Max… I'll pay you back.'_

When she had been made queen two years ago, May had finally paid him back in full. She gave him the position of becoming her political adviser, which he had accepted it graciously.

It was now her turn to take care of him.

However, for this particular setting, the role reversal began once again.

Once again, her younger brother was now acting like he was the elder of the two.

He sighed, pushed back his glasses up the bridge of his nose. As usual, his older sister was being her clueless self. "I suggested that we slowly, **SLOWLY**, start working on the peace agreement with the emperor." the fourteen year old young man calmly stated, fixing his clothes at the same time. For today, he was wearing a black suit. The long-sleeved shirt he was wearing was bright red, and his tie was colored black. The color combination was in honor of the queen, who loved the color combination.

Dead silence filled the air… then came the protest.

"NO! I will not have anything to do with those… those freaks!"

Her political adviser stared at her as if she were daft. Surely, she couldn't have picked a better time to throw yet another tantrum if her wishes hadn't been followed. The country needed her. Everyone needed her guidance.

Yet…

The Queen of Southern Hoenn was stubborn and conceited. Getting help from someone else was the last thing she ever wanted, yet she had to do it, or else…

"I will not allow it. It just goes to show that we are weak." May reiterated. "Besides, I doubt that Dad will even let us do such a thing."

Max cleared his throat. "Are you sure that you want this war to drag on? Our resources are dwindling… we don't have enough…"

"Lord Kyogre's power is enough to destroy them all."

"Don't be stupid, Your Majesty. Rumor has it that the god Groudon abandoned the emperor because he had abused the power that was given to him by the god." Max reminded her. "I am saying this out of concern because I am your brother, not your servant or your adviser."

May nodded. She'd heard rumors. The emperor had been powerless ever since the drizzles began half a decade or so. The god Groudon, they say, had punished him for being much too abusive. He had caused a drought, killing many of his people in the process because they lacked proper nourishment.

_Besides… he killed dad with that power._

"This war will drag on. It has to. I won't allow for this to end so quickly." May announced. Before any of her advisers protested, she raised a hand to stop them. "If worse comes to worst… we'll have to use Lord Kyogre's powers. That way, we'll be even… and we don't have anything to lose."

Max sighed. "No, it won't be even. He has the backing of an experiences army. Sinnoh supports him. He's one step ahead of you, Your Majesty."

"YOU SHUT UP, MAX!"

Everyone in the room was surprised. The queen hardly raised her voice, even rare for her to get mad.

"B-but…"

"I WON'T ALLOW THIS! I WON'T ALLOW YOU TO SHOOT DOWN YET ANOTHER PLAN THAT I HAVE IN MIND! IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ME, SO BE IT! I'LL DO THIS MYSELF!"

Suddenly, she stood up, blue eyes literally glowing. Her shoulder-length brown hair was slowly starting to defy gravity as well. Tattoo markings all over her body appeared suddenly and began to glow the same shade of blue like her eyes.

Max knew it was a sign.

May was dead serious.

She was calling the god Kyogre.

* * *

Please review! I hope I didn't make anyone too OOC... and it is just the prologue, so no worries. The next chapter will be the introduction of Drew (finally), as well as two characters that everyone loves to hate.

Flames will be ignored, by the way.


	2. Chapter 1: The Emperor

Hello everyone! Finally back with chapter 1. I have to admit, the prologue didn't do anything so much, but anyways... For this chapter, a total of four characters have been introduced. Hope you liked it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Ethereal

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Chapter 1: The Emperor

* * *

_With the use of Kyogre's powers, Northern Hoenn was thrown into a crisis. Every single city that the emperor had control over had been flooded._

_Many had survived the tragedy, but too many had been sacrificed just for this attack._

_Both monarchs knew that both did not have the blessing of the gods anymore._

_They were even._

… _Or so they think._

_Unknown to many, the Queen still had the blessing of the Prince of the Sea._

_She was still blessed by a god._

_The emperor, however, could only rely on his army and his resources._

_Groudon still refused to give back the emperor's ethereal powers._

* * *

"Bored to death again, Drew?"

The masked emperor inclined his head towards the speaker. "What is it now, Shinji?" he asked.

The Kaiser of Sinnoh gave him his usual deadpan look. "Summoner problems? You're probably not doing anything to get her away from those wretched gods summoning." He said.

Behind his mask, Emperor Andrew Rozen, emperor of Northern Hoenn, glared at the Kaiser. It was no secret how he was treating the summoner of Sinnoh; not only had she been tortured, she had also been restrained both physically and mentally. Huge amounts of drugs were to be taken by the summoner in order for her not to use her powers against the ruler. It was even a miracle that she had survived the ordeal.

"I am. The problem is, she is both queen and a summoner. Renegade queen, that is." He replied coldly.

"You're not trying hard enough. She almost reduced your empire into nothing just now."

"She and I are even when it comes to wielding powers of the gods." Drew stated. "Both of us are unable to use the powers. Still, I have the upper hand in this. There's no damn way that that kingdom of hers even have the manpower to continue on with the war. Weak leadership, weak army, weak navy… everything is weak in her. I'm surprised she even got this far."

Shinji snorted. "Who cares. Just get rid of her. You'll regain control of your lands back."

The emperor rolled his eyes under the mask, all the while studying his best friend. Currently, the Kaiser was wearing a long-sleeved black turtleneck shirt and jeans with matching black-colored rubber shoes, which made him blend in with the crowd. His indigo-colored hair was kept in a small, low ponytail.

He, on the other hand, had been forced to wear yet another stuffy outfit, which consisted of a long-sleeved black coat which had yellow trimmings, which ran from the collar of the coat, splitting to two directions as soon as it reaches his chest, running down to the end of the coat. A yellow rose, the symbol of the current ruling head, was etched on the both sides of the collarbone part of the coat. On his back, from the shoulder blades down to the end of the coat was yet another yellow-colored trimming. His pants were dark colored as well, and he wore leather shoes. Because he was the emperor, Drew had been forced to wear a cape that was parted on the back side, while on the front side, the right hem of the cape overlapped the left.

His helmet was a different story. The mechanism of it was impressive; three long metal plates would retract at the back whenever he would want to take it off. On the front, on the left side of the blue-colored glass helmet, a rectangular piece as small as the shape of his left eye would slide down so he would be able to see things clearly without the blue-colored hue. The emperor himself was the designer of the helmet, so he had no complaints.

His only complain, however, was the fact that he had to wear a helmet almost every time. the only exceptions wherein he couldn't wear a helmet was during bath time and during slumber. The rest, he had to wear it often.

When he had asked this question when he was young, his guardian would simply smile. "Because, my lord, you are ethereal. You possess the powers of the god Groudon."

"But I don't understand…"

"Someday, you will."

Years after, he finally figured it out.

If everyone knew his face, he would be a target. Just like his father before him, he would be killed by those who oppose him.

He finally understood that he was being protected by everyone around him. If he were to be killed, that bitch queen would usurp his throne and rule Hoenn. All that his ancestors had work for will be for nothing, just because some commoner had decided to take his place.

Drew gritted his teeth. He would not allow it!

"So, what's the plan now?" Shinji asked his best friend.

"No idea. They wouldn't let me do anything; my political advisers are the one doing all the work."

The indigo-haired ruler let himself smile a bit. "Then, let's go and mess around Southern Hoenn."

"How?"

"Get disguises."

"And… how do we get to that… place?"

"Use your Flygon, of course."

* * *

"We're in..." Shinji checked the sign. "Dewford Town. A long ways to go from La Rousse, but who cares. They won't go looking for you anyway, Drew. The Ditto did its job for you as the dummy."

For this trip, Drew had changed into a violet jacket wherein he rolled up the sleeves up to his elbows. Underneath the jacket was a long-sleeved black turtleneck shirt. He wore blue jeans and a pair of black rubber shoes. Shinji did not even bother to change his clothes, because he was wearing civilian clothes already. For once, Drew had not worn the mask while he went out of the castle.

"… What do we do now?" Drew asked while unconsciously doing a hair flip, his Roselia beside him, staring in awe at the new surroundings. Roselia had not set foot outside the castle, unlike her master, who had been able to sneak out. But the sneaking out would only happen if Shinji was around, and that would only happen once or twice in five years.

"We eat like the commoners. Come on, there's a supermarket over there. The food there is cheap." Shinji began walking towards the direction of said store just near the Pokemon Center.

"Super-what?"

"Rose?"

Both master and his Pokemon were unfamiliar with the term.

Ahead of him, the Kaiser of Sinnoh rolled his eyes.

_That's what you get from being cooped up in that stuffy place._

Shinji walked back. "I'll show you, alright? Just follow me."

"Alright." Came the reply.

As they made their way towards the store, dozens of girls stopped their strolling and mischievously eyed the two young men. This alarmed the emperor.

"Do they even know that I'm here? What if they alert their queen?"

Shinji shook his head. "Ignore them. They're just fan girls."

"Fan... girls?"

Yet another term had been added in Drew's vocabulary.

* * *

May was currently at sea, just near Dewford, riding her private yacht named_Caroline _to take her mind off of things. Right now, things had been more complicated. Ever since the High Council learned of what May had done, they had been glad, but after knowing that she wouldn't be able to summon or even use the powers of Kyogre anymore, they had been furious.

Though she may be the queen, all final decisions were to be made by the High Council.

The young queen sighed.

She was their puppet.

And she could do nothing to escape them.

Just on the shoreline of Dewford were two figures, both male.

"There she is." The younger of the two said, pointing at the lone figure by the boat.

A man with shoulder-length, purple-colored wavy hair aimed his sniper rifle at the brunette who stood by the rails of the yacht smirked. "See her."

"Do your job." Said the first.

"GLADLY!"

The bullet was fired, and was on its way to hit its mark.

* * *

It felt like the left side of her torso was burning.

May gasped out in pain and placed a hand over the part where it had hurt. Blood…? Why was she bleeding?

_Assassins… why are they here…? How did they… find me…_

The brunette royal blacked out even before she could shout out a curse of pain in her mind and down she fell over the rails of the yacht.

There had been a hint of blood by the railing of the ship, while the blue waters of the oceab had been defiled by the summoner and queen's own blood.

From the shoreline, the assassin smirked. His job was done.

Northern Hoenn would pay him handsomely for this.

* * *

As the two royals made their way towards the store, someone was looking at them from behind a stone wall, not far from where they stood before walking on ahead.

"The… Kaiser is… here…?"

The voice belonged to a badly beaten young girl. She was thinner than most girls her age and her clothes had been torn and dirty. Her face had the marks of fresh and old wounds, some of it overlapping each other. Her whole body had been filled with bruises. Her wrists were colored a scarlet red because of the rope that bound it far too long. Her dark blue hair was turning dull, and badly needed to be washed.

Try as she might, she could not even move. Every nerve and muscle in her body was in pain, and her left leg was broken. The only way she could have been able to get to Dewford from Sinnoh was because Azelf had taken control of her body and had caused so much havoc back in the Kaiser's palace while using its powers. It seems that the god did not like the fact that its summoner was being tortured to death…

When she woke up, she found herself washed up on shore, barely breathing and badly injured. It took all of her strength to even get herself slumped against the rock.

She needed to get herself healed, and fast.

* * *

_Am I… dead yet…?_

'Not yet, summoner, for you have much to do.' Said the voice in her head.

_W-who… are you…?_

'It matters not who I am. Quickly, you must go to shore.'

_H-how…?_

'Ignore the pain and make your way to shore.' The voice repeated.

May did what she was told to do and swam to the shore, despite the numbing pain on the left side of her body. When she did reach the shore, what she saw next was something that shocked her.

She ran as fast as she could towards the unconscious form. "W-wake up…!" she called out to the girl. "H-hey, don't die on me…!"

Suddenly, the tattoos on her arms and legs began to glow a faint blue.

She blinked.

"A… summoner? Just like me?"

* * *

I hope this chapter is better than the prologue. As always, please do review! I need feedback for this story of mine. I really do. 


	3. Chapter 2: The Two Summoners

Hello everyone! Sorry for the late update. I've gotten sick for the past few days and I wasn't able to update much. Hopefully, my fever didn't get in the way. I apologize for the late updates. I could update a day or two after a chapter has been posted, but the problem is, I'm new to the Pokemon fandom, and I still have to go through the birthing pains of making a fic that is AU and making a fic from this fandom. I hope I won't disappoint anyone.

This chapter is dedicated to my significant other, because he was the one who introduced me to contestshipping and he was also the person responsible for reviving my interest in Pokemon. :3 If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have written a fic for this fandom. Thanks a lot, anata. :3

Disclaimers: I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Ethereal

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**Chapter 2: The Two Summoners**

* * *

May was confused. 

Is this what the mysterious voice had told her about? Was she to help her fellow summoner out?

She shook her head. How would it be possible? She no longer had the powers of Kyogre; the power of the water was to heal, and without Kyogre's blessings, she could not do such.

She was helpless now, but she needed to do something to save this girl's life.

_But wait. _

May still had another option: summon Manaphy.

Before she could even attempt such, the girl woke up and weakly grabbed her by the wrist. "No need, Your Majesty. I'll be fine… you're the one who needs to get that wound healed. N-not to worry… I'll… get your healed in a bit."

Before the queen could even protest, the summoner pressed her palms together. The gold-colored rune tattoos on her arms and legs began to glow faintly. Suddenly, the dark blue-haired young girl used her fingers and applied pressure against the wound on May's left side. The brunette, who was too shocked from the pain to even scream, cringed instead. A shiny object, which was held by the summoner under the sun, caught her eye. It was a bullet.

She had nearly gotten herself killed…

May sighed in relief. Thank heavens she was still alive.

Again, the summoner pressed her palms together again. Slowly, May felt herself getting revitalized. Her body was slowly regaining the stamina that she lost from the long swim. She looked at the wound on her torso, which was slowly closing up. Though it had hurt a bit, she could do nothing about it. Speeding up the process of healing was really painful thing because it went against nature, but it was better than it getting infected. No amount of pain she was experiencing right now would match the pain of an infected wound she had when she had gotten into an accident as a child.

With that, the mysterious girl fainted, golden tattoos also disappearing from her skin.

"H-HEY! Don't tell me you're dead…?!"

'She is fine, summoner. She merely fainted.'

Time suddenly stopped.

Everything around May suddenly froze. The people walking around Dewford, the waves that came crashing to shore had been put to a stop.

She looked up, only to shield her eyes for a moment from the blinding light. "W-who are you…?"

'I am Cresselia.'

It was a female deity of Sinnoh. Her blue body was swan-like in shape, while the underside was colored yellow. Its head had a crescent moon shape on the sides and she also had three rings attached to her body: two on her sides and one on the back.

"O-oh, the L-lady Cresselia, dispeller of nightmares?"

The goddess nodded her head. 'This girl is my ward. Just like you, she can use my powers. What she had used to heal your wounds was Lunar Dance.'

"I-I see… I am grateful for that." May bowed.

'I hope that you can help her heal her physical wounds, which I am unable to do so.' The goddess sighed. 'The Kaiser had forced her into a deep sleep while he was gone, and used Darkrai against her. He used the ability Nightmare against her, trapping her in nightmares. It had only been recently that she had awakened me and sought my help.'

"The Kaiser has the power of a god? I thought the ruler of Sinnoh had been forbidden to have such?"

Cresselia shook her head. 'Generous humans have always been taken advantage of by the greedy ones. The seal that prevents the Kaiser from having the powers of a god had been removed by my ward with the promise of the Kaiser to use it for good deeds. He had tricked her, and even used Darkrai against its summoner.'

May was shocked beyond belief. "Oh… my…"

'The summoner needs healing. She had already used Recover on herself, but it will take awhile. She is in a deep sleep right now, and all we can do is to wait for her to awaken. As for myself, I shall have to guard her, in case Darkrai traps her again in a nightmare.'

"W-what can I do to help? It is the least that I can do to help her…"

'Please take her somewhere safe. The Kaiser still does not know that she had escaped the region, and if word gets out that she is here…'

"Please don't worry." The queen promised. "For now, we will have to stay at the Pokemon Center. We'll attract too much attention if we try to get out of Dewford." As much as May wanted to get back to Ever Grande, she knew her limitations. To carry an unconscious girl was already something unheard of, what more if the person carrying the unconscious person had blood all over her outfit?

'Thank you, summoner.' Said Cresselia.

May found herself smiling. "No problem. This girl will be under my protection as soon as we get back to the city." She promised. "No Kaiser or Emperor will ever get to her."

'Very well then. I shall take your word for it.'

With that, time and space went back to normal. Everyone and everything around them began to move again. People started walking and talking once more, and the waves came crashing back to the shoreline. May went down on her knees and began to carry her fellow summoner piggy-back style.

* * *

The walk to the Pokemon Center had not been pleasant. The brunette kept sinking because of the sand, but it was not because of the person she was carrying on the back. Rather, it was because she was currently wearing heels.

_Remind me never to wear these dreadful things when I get back to Ever Grande. I'm only seventeen! I should be wearing rubber shoes!_

She was very much ready to take off her high-heeled footwear when suddenly, she found herself falling face-first on the sand. May didn't even have time to scream, for as soon as her face came in contact with the sand, she got a mouthful of it.

_GREEAAAAT. What's next?_

"Do you need any help?"

Slowly, she looked up. In front of her was a young man who was around her age, or probably a year or two older than she was. He had emerald-colored hair to match his eyes and he wore a rather laidback outfit that consisted of a violet jacket, a long-sleeved black turtleneck shirt, a pair of jeans and black shoes.

She blinked in response and discreetly spat out the sand in her mouth.

He chuckled softly. "Are you alright?"

May nodded, still in a daze. "Y-yes… I-I'll be fine… I don't need help… but thank you anyway." She said. "My… sister and I will be fine."

_What the hell. Nice alibi, May._ She scolded herself. _You two don't even look alike._

"No, I insist." Without warning, he took the sleeping girl from the queen's back and carried her bridal style. "The Pokemon Center, right? Let's get going."

He did not bother to wait for her; instead, he went on ahead.

And that irritated May.

'_The nerve of that… that… jerk!'_

As soon as May got into the center, the stranger came up to her. "I got you two a room already. Here you go." He dangled the key with his thumb and forefinger.

The brunette queen did not bother to hide her contempt and roughly snatched the key from him. "Thank you." She said, and walked away with the key, eager to get away from this strange person. What nerve he had to intervene!

"Wait." He placed a hand on her left shoulder.

"What now?" she was growing irritated from his presence by the second.

"May I… know your name?"

Without thinking, she blurted out her faux name that she always uses. "Haru." With that, she went her way to the rooms to check up on her new friend.

* * *

As soon as she had gotten inside the room, the seventeen-year-old queen headed for the lower bunk opposite of the one that the other summoner occupied and collapsed on top of the bed. May winced when she felt the hard wood hit her back, but did not complain. Though she missed her bouncy bed back in Ever Grande, she needed rest. An assassination attempt was no laughing matter. Neither was that mile long swim to shore. Despite all those, it was all worth it in the end. She had found a kindred spirit. A summoner, just like her! May could hardly believe her luck. 

'_I wonder if she could teach me…'_

During the course of her training as a full-fledge summoner, the sessions had always been interrupted by the rebels. Most have sought her for protection, while others had been trying to convince her to lead the rebels against the young emperor. As a result, she knew little. Most of the time, she was at lost as to how she would use the powers given to her by the gods… she did not even know what kind of powers she possessed!

She let out a sigh in relief.

An afternoon nap was just what she needed. She needed a break from all of this.

The girl was just ready to doze off when suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Loudly.

Grumbling, she stood up and checked as to who it was. "Yes?" she asked sharply.

It was him again. "Hi, Haru. Sorry for disturbing. It seems that my best friend abandoned me for reasons I don't know. Would it be alright if I share a room with you and your sister for the night?"

"Yeah, sure. Fine. Great." She muttered under her breath. It was evident that she could not stand his presence anymore. She no longer felt fatigued and tired; in fact, she felt so wide awake because of the knocking he did. Even though she had been thankful that he did not manage to wake up the blue-haired girl, her anger towards him escalated to a point wherein if she took a look at him, she knew that all hell would break lose.

She needed to cool down.

With that, the Queen of Southern Hoenn pushed him aside and walked out of the room, fuming. She needed to get away from him.

Drew, on the other hand, wondered why she was acting that way. He knew she was angry, but…

'_We just met. Why is she angry at me? What did I do wrong?'_

The emperor shrugged. He really had no idea why, but one thing's for sure. _'Commoners are really weird.' _He told himself.

As he sat down on the lower bunk where May had previously laid on, he looked at the girl sleeping peacefully on the other bed. "Tell me... why does your sister hate me so much? Would you know why?"

As expected, he got no reply.

Unknown to him, the sleeping girl smiled in her sleep.

She knew what was going on around her… and what was to happen next.

She eagerly waited for the turn of events.

_This should be interesting…_

* * *

They've finally met! Whew! That took quite a while, don't you think so? Anyways, please do review:3 

Also, I've been thinking: should I make a separate fic for ikarishipping? The spotlight won't be theirs in this fic. It'll be a minor pair in this fic, as well as Pokeshipping. Do drop me a review and tell me what you guys think. :3


	4. Chapter 3: Ignorance

Hello everyone! Here's chapter 3 for Ethereal. I'll update this fic again right after I'm done with Terrene. :3 This is the longest chapter yet for this fic, around 2000 words or so. I guess I need to start making longer chapters, huh:D

Anyways, let's get started!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

Ethereal

* * *

**Chapter 3: Ignorance**

* * *

"May! Thank goodness you're safe!" 

The girl in question gave out a tired smile as soon as she saw her brother's face through the video phone screen. "Yes, I'm fine… is everyone making a fuss out of this again?" ever since she had ascended as queen, there had always been countless number of death threats she received, but today was the worst assassination attempt. Not only had the assassin almost succeed, there had been no knights to protect her.

"Yes, of course. Your critics are happy while your supports are angry over it, calling it an insult. We had to tell everyone that you were safe, that it was the impostor that had been shot." Her younger brother said, referring to the old trick, which was to use a Ditto to impersonate her. "I better the emperor won't be happy if he finds out that you're not dead."

The brunette shrugged. "I couldn't care less. Maybe he should hire more competent people to do the job." She said sarcastically.

Max smiled. The usual sarcasm was back. _I guess I worried too much._ "Maybe so." He said. "Anyways, Brendan wants to make it up to you. Will it be alright if he picks you up early morning tomorrow in Dewford?"

The queen nodded her head, grinning. "Sure. Sir Brendan Birch wants to make it up to me, huh? Go ahead."

Brendan Birch was the queen's personal knight, who was also her childhood friend. Though this may have been the case, like everyone else, he had worked hard for this position. Starting his training at the age of thirteen, his age when May had become queen, it took him half a decade to become a full-fledge personal knight. He had silver-colored hair that defied gravity, for it stood up on its own without the need for hair gels and the like. He also had light-green colored eyes that always had its glint of mischievousness in it.

"Alright, I'll tell him about it." Max chuckled. "He'll be ecstatic to hear that."

"Thank you, Max." she said. "By the way, start preparing a room for a guest. She'll be living with us in the palace by tomorrow."

The political adviser raised an eyebrow. "Care to tell me who she is?"

May shaped her right hand around the transmitter end of the phone and said the words as discreet as possible. "The summoner of Sinnoh."

Max's mouth dropped open.

"A-Are you serious?! May, you can get in trouble—"

May gave him a hard stare and held up a hand, as if to tell him to let her speak first. When he had quieted down, she began talking, "I know what I am doing, Max. I know I'll face the wrath of a Kaiser, but to hell with that! He doesn't like me anyway; he thinks his 'best friend' is always in the right. Well, screw him! I'm not handing back the summoner to him! She'll get killed if that happens!"

Silence… then Max had asked, "So it was true?"

"What was true?"

"That she had been locked up and tortured the moment she had been seen by the Kaiser?"

"That's what I don't know. Intelligence report says that as soon as the girl had turned seventeen, she had been locked up to prevent her from using her powers against the Kaiser. The Kaiser's reason for such is treason." May shrugged. "Even I don't know if Intelligence could be relied on. That's why I hate politics so much."

Her little brother chuckled. "Right. Anyways, have fun there, sis. Enjoy while you can. When you get back, you have lots of paperwork to do."

May suddenly swore upon hearing the word 'workload'. "Alright, fine. Just tell Brendan to fetch me as soon as he can. Thanks Max. Bye."

She hung up the receiver and let out a deep sigh.

So much for wanting to get home, only to do more paperwork…

"Oh well." She said. "I might as well have fun."

Taking out three of her Pokeballs from her pocket, she threw them in the air. "Come out, everyone!"

Before her were a Beautifly, a Skitty and a Torchic.

She gave each a hug. "Hello. Why don't you guys run along and have a bit of fresh air?"

All three gave out an enthusiastic nod and ran off, Beautifly heading towards the rooms, Torchic jumping up to her to be cuddled while Skitty started chasing her own tail. When her trainer sat by the couch and began tapping her left foot, the kitten Pokemon began jumping up and down, following the motions of her foot.

Suddenly, the unexpected happened.

Skitty bit down on her foot.

Suddenly, May let out a scream that could have shattered the glass of the Pokemon Center doors.

* * *

"What happened back there anyway?"

Currently, May's foot was being treated by Nurse Joy for any possible sign of infection because of a Skitty bite. Though the said nurse only specialized in Pokemon care, she still knew the effects of infections caused by Pokemons to humans.

May turned her head at the direction of the person who had just spoke up. "Oh… it's you." For the love of the gods of Hoenn, she had no idea what his name was.

The green-haired young man smirked at her. _Stupid commoner. _"You can call me Drew."

"Alright… _Drew._" The way she spoke his name was like spitting out saliva. "I happen to be an unfortunate person whose own Pokemon bit me in the foot. Currently, Nurse Joy is treating me for any sign of infection from the Skitty bite. Any problem with that?" she hissed.

"No… but your sister woke up because of your screaming." He said, sounding as if he was going to tattletale her to an adult.

_Crap. _She forgot all about the summoner!

"Also, your Beautifly happen to come inside the room your sister and I were in." he said, and as if on cue, her own Pokemon flew towards the young man of eighteen years and landed on his head. "I see that she has taken a liking towards me." He suddenly did a hair flip. "As well as your Torchic."

As if on cue, her Torchic popped out her head from the boy's leg. "Torchic!" said the Pokemon, who ran towards her and tried to jump up the stretcher.

As much as she wanted to bang her head against the wall, she resisted the urge to do so.

"I see." The brunette young queen took out her Pokeball. "Return, Beautifly."

"Well, that wasn't very nice." Came the sardonic remark. "You sure seem restricting towards your Pokemon." He then bent down to retrieve Torchic and handed the said Pokemon to her.

How she wanted to pummel his face down the sand outside. Instead, she kept her cool and smiled stiffly. "Well, she needs to get back to her Pokeball. Beautifly needs rest."

Before the emperor could even retort, the pink-haired woman grinned. "Nothing's wrong with you foot, May, though we need to tend to those wounds."

She nodded. "Okay, Nurse Joy. Do you have any iodine solution though?" when the nurse nodded, she grinned. "I'll splash it on the wounds."

When the said nurse handed her the bottle of iodine solution, she used cotton balls to wash it over the wounds. Apparently, she realized that if she just poured the liquid over the wounds, she would make a mess out of it.

Drew merely watched the procedure, noting the difference. As emperor, he was entitled to the best doctors throughout the land. Whenever he was injured, even a minor cut, doctors would be summoned to the palace. For the commoners, just plain old antiseptic and iodine solution, they're good to go. They would only go to a hospital if the illness was life-threatening or was in need of serious attention by a doctor.

Their lives were really unlike his.

He snapped back to reality when the girl hopped off the stretcher, returning her Torchic back to its Pokeball and walked towards the room she was staying on, though limping.

He decided to stay put in his place and wait for her.

Maybe it would be nice if he was to spend just one day with this commoner before returning to his duties as the emperor…

* * *

"Feeling alright?"

The summoner smiled. "Yes. I feel much better now." She said. "By the way, my name is Hikari."

"I'm May. Umm, listen… in the presence of that green-haired idiot, please call me your sister." When Hikari raised an eyebrow, she continued, "I… kind of lied to him that we were siblings, since he was so annoying."

The blue-haired girl nodded. "I understand… _onee-san._"

May smiled at this. "Are you hungry? I'll be buying some food at the grocery. What would you like?" as soon as she saw yet another confused expression on the younger girl's face, the queen gave out a nervous smile. "Okay, okay. I'll decide for you. Go on, have a good rest. Also…"

She handed out a pair of shorts and a shirt to Hikari. "Nurse Joy gave me this. Get changed, alright?"

"Okay."

With that, she left.

* * *

"Hey."

The young queen stopped in her tracks and when she saw who it was who had called her, her cheerful expression turned sour. "What?"

"Are you… going somewhere?" when she raised an eyebrow at his questioning, he took it as a yes. "May I join?"

May shrugged. "Suit yourself."

As much as he wanted to punish the peasant for being so disobedient, he knew he couldn't risk blowing his cover.

Mentally, he cursed Shinji for being such an ass. The idiot left without even telling him! And now, he was stuck in this island all alone, in enemy territory even! _'If something bad happens to me, he'll pay for this…!'_

So off they went to the grocery store to buy those… magical things that involved a machine called 'microwave oven' that the emerald-eyed trained had never seen before until him and Shinji had eaten those 'magical things', which were really microwavable meals. As much as he was tempted to buy yet another one for the last time (the gods know if there were such a thing in La Rousse), he didn't. his companion, the grouchy long-haired brunette, was stocking up on orange juices, which he guessed was probably for her sister to drink.

Suddenly, she took one of the 'magical things', err, microwavable meals. "You're not getting one?"

As much as he wanted to act un-Drew like, he kept his composure. "Why not. It's a cheap meal."

_I can't believe I'm acting like a commoner._

After the two had paid for their meals, he said, "Let's eat by the shore."

"Alright."

They ate their meals in silence, not one wanting to try to break the silence. For once, May was not in a foul mood, and Drew wasn't being sarcastic.

"So… how did you get to Dewford Town? Are you from around here?"

Drew took a handful of sand and let it spill down. "My… best friend took me here, but he left and didn't tell me where he went, so… I guess I'm alone." He admitted. "How about you, Haru?"

"My sister and I went here for some rest and relaxation. We'll be going home tomorrow."

"I see…"

Silence yet again, and then, she spoke up, surprising them both.

"Actually… for once, I want to leave everything behind. I want to… leave reality just for a little while before I face it head-on after tomorrow." She revealed. "That's… the real reason behind my staying here in Dewford."

_Nice story, May. _Her mind told her. _We just can't reveal that small fact that you almost died from a bullet wound of a dim-witted assassin now, can we? Or that you simply found the summoner of Sinnoh half-dead on the beach?_

Mentally, she agreed.

For now, she was May Saffire, a citizen of Petalburg.

Tomorrow, she would be back to being Queen May Saffire, Queen of Southern Hoenn, sworn enemy of the Emperor Rozen, Emperor of Northern Hoenn.

Drew, on the other hand, was thinking the same.

Being a commoner was much easier than being an emperor. Commoners only worried about the price change in commodities, the food they would eat for the day and the like, whereas he had to worry about the safety on his people and the relationship between his region and the other regions.

For now, he was Andrew Rozen, a citizen of La Rousse.

Tomorrow, he would be back to being the ruthless masked Emperor Andrew Rozen, Emperor of Northern Hoenn. Tomorrow too, he would resume his duties to reclaim back the lands that the renegade queen had taken from him, Dewford included.

_Once I get my hands on her, she's as good as dead._

Haru suddenly stood up, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Let's get going to the Pokemon Center, alright? It is getting dark." May informed him.

"Okay. Let's go."

When they had gotten back to the room, the queen handed Hikari a can of orange juice, as well as a microwavable meal that consisted of boneless chicken strips and spaghetti. The summoner ate the meal with much gusto, commending that it 'tasted way better than those she had eaten before'.

It may have attributed to the fact that she had not eaten a decent meal since her imprisonment, but May was sure about one thing: she'll help the summoner recover.

Right after Hikari had finished her meal, the three then brushed their teeth, washed their faces, and went to bed.

* * *

Sir Brendan Birch had fetched the two ladies at an ungodly hour of seven in the morning, but the two girls did not even protest one bit. May was simply too happy to get away from that backwater island because she wanted to forget the times she had spent with that obnoxious jerk named Drew while Hikari was desperate to get away from the Kaiser.

So when Drew woke up, he was all alone in the room he had shared with the 'siblings'.

He got up, washed his face, ate breakfast like everyone else (the taste of the food nearly,_nearly_ rivaled the palace cook's meal) and was just ready to leave using Flygon (He forgot that his own Pokemon could bail him out of enemy territory in an instant) when suddenly, he found Shinji waiting for him just outside the Center.

"Where the hell have you been, Shinji?!"

The Kaiser merely stared at him. "I went back yesterday. It seems that my summoner has escaped while I was out having fun. I had to take care of that little problem." He stated. "And you, you have a problem yourself."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Shinji handed him a newspaper. "The assassination failed. Your queen is still alive and breathing."

Drew quickly looked at the contents of the newspaper but ignored the bold headline that read: 'Assassination Attempt Foiled'. Instead, he looked at the pictures. More often the not, the captions on the photos were enough to get the gist of the story.

One picture caught his eyes, and it was a picture of a familiar girl.

When he took a good look at it, he almost dropped the newspaper he was holding.

The queen…

The queen is Haru?

Angrily, he threw the newspaper down the sand and walked towards the shore, chastising himself for being such a careless idiot.

He knew he should have contacted the assassins to confirm if it had been successful or not. If not, Drew would have taken care of the failure. Yesterday, if the green-haired young man had only known of it, he could have killed her already.

That witch… what did she do to him to make him forget the rebellious summoner's damn face? Hell, her face was known throughout Hoenn, unlike him, who kept the mask on, even in his palace.

No wonder she was in Dewford yesterday. She had escaped assassination by swimming to shore.

One thing's for sure, however…

Drew swore to himself that she'll pay dearly for tricking him.

"Shinji, let's go back to La Rousse. I have some… unfinished business to settle."

* * *

Well, everything should start at a faster pace right after this chapter. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! Please review and tell me what you think:D 


	5. Chapter 4: Diplomacy

Here's chapter 4 for Ethereal. The whole thing has the diplomacy stuff. Hope it won't get boring or something. XD

Anyways, hope you all like this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Ethereal

* * *

**Chapter 4: Diplomacy**

* * *

When May woke up the next day, she knew that something had terribly gone wrong. At once, she headed to the meeting room, ignoring the fact that she was wearing her sleeping clothes that consisted of a red tank top and black pajamas. "Max!" she called her brother.

At once she caught his attention. "Your Highness!" he bowed before approaching her. "Northern Hoenn has sent us a message." He handed her a parchment scroll, which she unrolled and read out loud.

_I was right…_

"_You have exactly forty-eight hours to abdicate as Queen of Southern Hoenn. Failure to do so will result to Ever Grande City burned to the ground, as well as the lands you have control over._

_The Summoner of Sinnoh is to be given back to her ward, the Kaiser. She must not stay in your care, else harm and conflict will befall in Sinnoh. You wish for that not to happen, correct? Release her, and let her and the Kaiser settle everything themselves._

_Forty-eight hours._

_Nothing more._

_Nothing less._

_If the need arises for you to contact me, feel free to do so. We shall meet upin Petalburg City. I have chosen the place specifically for our meeting because my lands have not yet recovered from the damages it suffered._

_Sincerely,_

_Emperor Rozen"_

As much as the brunette wanted to tear the parchment into pieces, she had to keep calm.

"Damn him! He's threatening me! How dare he…!" May then began pacing around, back and forth. "And how the hell did he know that Hikari is with me?" when her younger brother shrugged, the young woman scratched her head irritably. Probably the Kaiser told him about it. They were the best of friends, after all.

_Great. What a way to start the day._

May now had two problems.

First, if she won't abdicate, Ever Grande would be in flames, literally. Not only Ever Grande, but the whole of Southern Hoenn was to be burned to the ground. Since the statement came from her father's murderer, she HAD to take it seriously. Who knows what that cruel person would do next?

If she DID abdicate, everyone in Southern Hoenn will hate her. They had high hopes of her overthrowing the ruler of the North, and if she gives up now, she'll never live to see the day. Everyone will just kill her.

_Gods… I've gotten into something that I don't even want to be in…_

May took a deep breath and tried to calm down. _Calm down, May. You can do this… you've survived so many assassination attempts, you managed to mark four years in the throne… heck, you even got to sneak in the Sinnoh summoner in your region!_

"Max… may I make my decision after I eat a bowl of beef ramen?" she asked softly.

"S-sure!" he then rushed out to alert the palace chef to make breakfast.

_Sis sure is nervous about this…_

* * *

"You just love torturing her psychologically, don't you?"

The emperor shot a glance at one of his closest friends and advisers, Soledad. "She needs it. That happy-go-lucky idiot needs to be threatened first to take something seriously." He informed her.

Soledad and he were currently at the newly rebuilt palace at the center of the city. Thanks to La Rousse's advancement in technology, they were the first city in Northern Hoenn to recover from the disaster. Now, the emperor had sent most of the soldiers from the army to help rehabilitate the towns and cities under his control.

The corral haired woman sighed and shrugged. "Were you serious about burning the south to the ground?" when he nodded, she gave him a puzzling look. "But… that's like throwing away all of your father's efforts and yours…"

"My descendants can always rebuild it in my place." He said at once. "Besides, she destroyed my lands. I'll destroy her lands as well."

"But what if she is the one who overthrows you?" Soledad asked. "Do remember that she has many supporters. If you even try to do anything to her, the people of Petalburg might kill you."

"They grow restless of her already." Drew countered. "She does nothing to even try and overthrow me. Many do not believe in her now."

"The same goes in your case." She said. "You still have done nothing to get rid of her."

The masked emperor growled beneath his mask. "That's because that fool Harley failed to assassinate her. If only he had succeeded, we wouldn't be having this problem." Apparently, he still hadn't gotten over the fact that the queen had managed to escape him.

"Well, why don't YOU do all the dirty work, hun?" came the angry reply of the purple-haired assassin, glaring at the emperor. "Let's see if you can even lift one of your 'o holy hands' and try to kill that woman!"

Drew smirked beneath his mask. "I will. If she does fall for my trap… she just signed her death warrant."

"And what trap would that be?" both Soledad and Harley asked.

When Drew said nothing, the pair glanced at each other.

He had a plan, it seems.

* * *

"T-the Kaiser demands that I be returned to him?"

It was breakfast when the two summoners had finally met once again, and Hikari was eating pancakes, while May was having a bowl of beef ramen. When the latter nodded, the former tensed in her seat. "I-I… see."

"Don't worry. I won't hand you over to him THAT easy." May smirked and asked for a piece of parchment. She then began to scribble.

_Your Imperial and Royal Majesty,_

_It has come to my attention that you __**desperately**__ seek your summoner._

_May I remind you that I shall not hand her over to your custody easily. If you would, please come over to Petalburg City as soon as time permits it and fetch her with all the glamour and liveliness that befits a summoner._

_Sincerely_

_May Saffira_

_Queen of Southern Hoenn_

Seeing her finished work, she snickered in delight.

"Hikari, what do you think?"

Her fellow summoner gasped. "N-no! You must not send that! He'll kill you!"

"No worries." She said proudly. "He has tortured you. I think he deserves more than what I have written to him, but I'm afraid that's all I'm good at. I do not have so much manpower as everyone believes, nor do I still have the blessings of the gods of Hoenn, but I can still insult those who insult me and my friends." She grinned at the dark-blue haired maiden.

"H-hai… but you'll get in trouble…"

"So be it. Like I care." The queen shrugged and asked for more parchment. Then, she turned serious. "Hikari… I know you are not a fortuneteller, nor can you see the future. But, I ask you… will it really be for the best if I choose to negotiate?

"I mean, the person I'll be negotiating with happens to be the person who had murdered my father. Somehow, I do not trust him, but I know I have to. I do not want to abdicate because my people still believe that I can overthrow this person and take over Hoenn. It has already been four years since the hostility between the north and the south and no one is winning. I may not be able to see what conflicts have gone between the citizens, but the damage has been done. I flooded and damaged his lands, and he managed to wipe out what remains to be my army…"

The younger girl sighed and spoke her piece. "Your Majesty, all I can say is that you should go with what your instinct tells you."

"You're right… for once, maybe I should trust him."

Right after she had scribbled the note, she sent for Brendan. "Take this and ask a Wingull to take it to La Rousse."

"To whom, Your Highness?" asked the loyal knight.

"Emperor Rozen."

* * *

Two days later…

On the day of fateful meeting between the emperor and the queen, May wished she had brought something to protect her cheeks. And no, she was not talking about make-up.

She did expect that the Kaiser, along with ten or so of his private guards, would be there to take back custody of the summoner, but what she did not expect was to get slapped on the left cheek. It stung a lot and she even stagger back, because the Kaiser had exerted a lot of force just to slap her. Not only did it hurt a lot, it was also humiliating. The arrogant ruler of Sinnoh had the nerve to slap her in front of everyone in Petalburg!

Not to be outdone, the queen punched him squarely at the nose. Immediately, Shinji's nose began bleeding profusely and he had a hard time breathing, probably because of his now broken nose. His personal guards were just about ready to strike her down, but the queen's knight, Brendan Birch, was ready to defend her. At once, he went to her aid, stepping in front of her to draw out his sword.

"You just got what you deserve. The letter was not even enough for me to make my point across. I hope that punch did." She said, smirking at him, despite the stinging on her left cheek.

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Summoner, let's go. I don't want to waste any more time with this woman." With that, he turned to leave, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. The summoner of Sinnoh followed him, but not before casting a worried look at the person who had been nice enough to take care of her even for just a short while. She then was surrounded by at least ten of his personal guards, preventing her from escaping.

Once they had gone, her silver-haired friend sheathed his sword back to its scabbard and looked at her.

"Are you alright, Your Majesty?" asked Brendan, staring at her bluish-purple left cheek. "You must get that treated at once!" slowly, he lightly touched the left cheek of his queen, causing her to gasp a bit.

"L-later, Sir Brendan." She told him. "I'll be fine."

He chose not to argue with his mistress and shrugged. "I'll ask someone to buy ice."

"Alright then. Please do." She nodded to her knight.

"Well, well. What is a queen and her knight doing here?"

The unfamiliar voice caused Brendan to draw out his sword once more and stood in front of his mistress. May turned her head at the sound of the voice and nearly screamed in fright, if she hadn't been in so much pain from the slap.

The emperor was already here.

May had heard the rumors of the north having a masked person for an emperor, but still, seeing him in person gave her the creeps. He DID look mysterious, but the way he looked could really intimidate everyone. "E-Emperor Rozen…?" she called out tentatively.

When he gave out a small inclination of the head, she blinked. "N-nice to meet you…" she curtsied. "I'm May Saffira."

Seeing that the emperor posed no threat to his mistress, Brendan 'hmph'ed and saluted the ruler using his saber. "Sir Brendan Birch, the Queen's personal guard."

Drew was ready to ask if they were already on their way to the conference when he noticed something on the girl's face. "What happened to you?"

May jumped. "W-what? What do you mean?!"

"On your face…" once again, he was interrupted when she started talking really fast.

"T-this? Oh, it's nothing! Really! No need to worry, Your Majesty! I'll be fine!"

He was not convinced with her reasoning, and with his, he took her hand into his gloved ones and pulled her away. "Let us go to a human clinic. I will not let your representatives think that I have mistreated you before the negotiations start." He said, as if reading her mind. "I have a reputation to uphold, and let me make it clear that I am simply doing this because I want this over with."

"A-alright…" she then cast a look to Brendan that said, 'I'll be fine.'

"Sir Birch, inform the representatives that your queen and I will not attend for today." He said. "She needs medical attention. I give you my word that she will be safe with me. I will do nothing to harm her."

The ever-loyal knight glanced at his queen, waiting for her orders, and when she nodded, off he went to the old Petalburg Gym, where the negotiations were to be held.

"T-thank you…"

When he did not reply to her words of gratitude, May smiled to herself. Despite his 'I'm untouchable' aura, she still found his gestures… nice. She then looked at the hand that the emperor was holding.

_Would he… allow me to hold his hand as well…?_

She tried.

She surprised him and herself when May suddenly returned the gesture and held his hand as well, their fingers intertwined. The passersby who had seen this almost had their eyes popped out of their sockets. The two rulers of Hoenn walking side by side together was a rare sight indeed, especially if they weren't out slitting each other's throats. The two of them holding hands was a very, very rare occurrence.

And, to everyone's surprise, it looked like they were enjoying themselves… but that was in the queen's case. They did not know what goes on in the emperor's mind, nor did they see the expression on his face. Nonetheless, most of the citizens of Petalburg felt happy for the two.

That was a start.

Underneath the mask, however, Drew was blushing madly.

Was this all for show?

Was this what she genuinely felt right now?

Was she just playing with him?

He hoped not.

He prayed that he would be strong enough to finish what he had planned initially.

_May… don't you dare interfere._

"You know… since we're getting along great, I have a feeling that the negotiations will go really well today." She told him, smiling warmly at him.

_I hope so too. _He told himself.

Suddenly, he smiled cruelly.

_If the negotiation does go well, my dear queen, you'll finally die by my hands._

* * *

Please review!_  
_


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